CNRP Lawmaker Attempts to Revive Map Spat

Khmer Times/Chea Takihiro and Srey Kumneth

 

Thursday, 08 October 2015

 

Um Sam An visits Cambodian-Vietnam border.

After combing through the United Nations’ archives in New York, firebrand Cambodia National Rescue Party lawmaker Um Sam An challenged the UN’s claim that they do not have a copy of Cambodia’s official border maps. 

In a Facebook post, Mr. Sam An shows himself holding a copy of a map that he says is the one recognized in the Cambodian constitution. 

Following relentless pressure from the CNRP, and accusations that the government had knowingly conceded land to Vietnam, Prime Minister Hun Sen requested a copy of the maps – which were drawn up by France’s Indochina Geographic Service – from the UN in July. In response, the UN sent 18 maps from 1964, recognizing they were not the same that the prime minister had asked for. Now, Mr. Sam An is challenging the UN’s claim that they did not have the official border map.

“I ask the government to request these maps from the UN to compare them to the government maps, which they are using for border demarcation. They should then use the UN maps only and stop using the Cambodia maps, which have a Vietnamese stamp,” he wrote. 

“The government didn’t have this map from the UN while they demarcated 83 percent of the border. So, they must  review the prior demarcation,” he added.

Mr. Sam An claimed that an unnamed UN library manager was unsure why the maps were not among those sent to the prime minister, after they were shown to a Cambodian delegation visiting the UN. “The [library manager] told me ‘I just showed it to them, but they didn’t chose it,” Mr. Sam An claimed.

Cambodia’s Border Committee did not respond to a request for comment.

Sok Touch, the head of the border research team at the Royal Academy of Cambodia, said Mr. Sam An should send the maps to the government or research team to verify them.

“If he really is a patriot and he has that map, he should give it to me because I am a researcher,” Mr. Touch said. “Maybe the UN didn’t lie to us. But if it is true, it is the UN who will be ashamed, not the government, because the UN told us they can’t find it. It would mean the UN is a liar,” he said. 

Mr. Touch also questioned the lawmaker’s intentions, saying that Mr. Sam An was abroad looking for donations from CNRP supporters and that at this point there was no way of verifying his findings. 

Meas Nee, a social science researcher, was also skeptical. He thinks that Mr. Sam An should ensure that his maps differ from those the government already has before calling for action. In the past, false statements about the border have raised the ire of the government. 

Opposition senator Hong Sok Hour is currently on trial after posting a video on his Facebook page that included a doctored border treaty with Vietnam. 

“The CNRP should study this clearly before confronting the government,” Mr. Nee said. “What I am really sorry about is that we have issues at the border, but we just fight with each other about the maps.”